A novel poly(dimethyl siloxane)/poly(oligosilsesquioxanes) composite membrane for pervaporation desulfurization

Pervaporation performance of novel poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS)/poly(oligosilsesquioxanes) (POSS) composites was analyzed by measuring solubility and diffusion behavior of a series of solvents in the composites using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) fitted with a packed column. The solubility and diffusion coefficients of thiophene, benzene and toluene at infinite dilution in the composites are greater than the other four solvents (cyclohexane, n-pentane, n-hexane and n-heptane). The PDMS/POSS composite membranes were thus prepared and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. The pervaporation separation performance of the composite membranes was evaluated and agreed with the IGC study. The composite membranes are found to have a great promising application in pervaporation separation of thiophene from n-heptane.